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EDMONTON — At Ben Staley’s sister restaurants Alta andAlder Room the cooks will also be the servers.

Staley is quick to note he doesn’t have a grudge against servers, but feels cooks have more of a connection to the food they make and the stories behind it.

“Being a restaurant itself is the smallest part of our project; we’re aiming to kind of change what we feel is a broken industry, the restaurant industry,” said Staley, a co-owner with five partners.

To that end, wages start at $18 an hour, staff will be given three weeks paid vacation annually and will have full benefits.

“We’re really trying to focus on having a very healthy work environment,” Staley said. “Essentially, I’m approaching this from the mindset of a cook, rather than the mindset of an owner. I got really fed up and tired of working in an industry where I got taken advantage of and was underpaid and overworked, so we’re trying to promote a very healthy work/life balance.”

In turn, he thinks the approach will be beneficial to the business by promoting employee longevity within the restaurants.

“If you take care of your staff then your staff are going to stay longer and perform better,” he explained.

Staley, who was the opening chef for North 53, has been working on his concept for Alder Room — which will strictly serve a tasting menu — for more than two years.

When Staley found the location on Jasper Avenue formerly occupied by the Wee Book Inn, the 5,300-square-foot space was too large for Alder’s 18-seat concept. Wondering whether the landlord would consider splitting the space, Staley called to enquire about the lease.

“That night, a light bulb went off in my head. Why don’t I just open two?” he said with a laugh. “Make my life extra difficult, now opening two restaurants with the budget of one.”

At both Alder Room and Alta all ingredients will be sourced locally.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves so we set these very intentional limitations by not reaching outside of our region to the point that we don’t use vanilla, we don’t use black pepper, we don’t use olive oil or citrus or anything like that,” said Staley.

When cooking, Staley would catch himself thinking that a dish could use a touch of lime, but that was off limits.

“We kind of have to force ourselves to be creative to find an alternative and it’s completely shaped the way we cook. Now, I don’t even think about lemon or anything like that, it just kind of comes naturally,” he said. “With the Alder Room, we wanted to create an environment where that fit seamlessly.”

Modelled on the experience at Alinea in Chicago, there will be two seatings each evening with diners buying tickets in advance.

“It’s just like going to a concert or sporting event, you pay in advance. You come and you have your meal and everything is included and when you’re done, you just get up and leave,” said Staley. “You’re completely eliminating the worst part of any meal, essentially.”

The Alder Room’s seats are situated around a U-shaped bar, occupied by four cooks, three of whom are in direct communication with six guests for the duration of the meal.

“Say in my section, those are the only six seats I ever deal with. So I’m doing your meal from start to finish; I set your cutlery, I pour your water, I pour your wine, I plate your meal and present your plates,” Staley explained.

Each evening, Alder Room will have no more than 36 guests at the two seatings, which can be booked between 5 and 6:30 p.m. or between 7:30 and 9 p.m.

“We’re capped out at 36 forever,” said Staley. “It’s kind of luxury being a cook and doing that few people while also it being feasible as a business, but that’s where Alta comes in.”

Alta, which opens first in February, will share the same address and phone number as Alder Room, which is slated to open in April. The two restaurants also share washrooms, a dish pit and prep area.

“The philosophy is exactly the same at the two restaurants; we pull from the same pantry, we pull from the same producers, preserves kind of dictate the menu on both sides,” said Staley, who brought on chef de cuisine Spencer Croteau to help him run the Alta kitchen.

The differentiator is the level of casualness at Alta. The walk-in only restaurant will have 32 seats and a standing bar.

“It’s traditional in the sense that you are sitting at a table and someone is waiting on you, but that person who’s serving you is a cook,” said Staley. “You have direct contact with the person who’s making your food … We wanted to cut out the middle man; instead of servers, we just have more cooks.”

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Ishcom Publications was established in 1986 with the launch of Ontario Restaurant News, offering national coverage with a provincial focus of the news that matters to the restaurant and foodservice industry. The company expanded its regional concentration with the addition of Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News and Atlantic Restaurant News. In 2004, Ishcom Publications added Canadian Lodging News to its portfolio to offer its industry news coverage to the accommodation sector.